in whom we have also obtained an inheritance, being marked out beforehand according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his own will,
This verse turns from what believers are in Christ to what they will own with Him. It all goes back to a purpose God formed Himself, which raises two questions: what is this inheritance, and how safe is it?
The inheritance is not a separate portion of our own. It is Christ's, shared with those joined to Him.
Notice where we come into it: "in whom also we have obtained an inheritance." We are heirs, as the apostle says to the Romans — "heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ." That is, God says: I am going to give everything to Christ. I am going to gather together in one all things in heaven and on earth in Him. And with Him you are joint-heirs — with Him you have received the inheritance.
Translators have disagreed over the phrase. One writer defends the older wording against a revision that reversed it, making us God's heritage instead.
In Ephesians 1:11 some translate it "we were made a heritage." But the Greek means "we have been placed by lot in possession of," or "have obtained a lot, or inheritance." The point matters. We are joint-heirs with Christ.
The words "in Him" mark where the inheritance is held, and what it cost.
All belongs to God, but Christ is the Heir, and God has marked His many sons out to share the inheritance with Christ. That is why it says, "in whom also we have obtained an inheritance" (verse 11). We have nothing outside of Christ. All our blessings now, and all that we will have in the coming day, are "in Christ," in association with Him. They depend on Him, who obtained everything for us by His death on the cross.
One writer points out that God never asked us — and treats that as good news.
This is "according to the purpose of Him who works all things after the counsel of His own will." He did not give it to us in answer to anything we asked or wanted. He has acted from Himself in His infinite wisdom and eternal love. He did not consult us about this, or about any blessing He has given us. And it is good for us that He acted this way. If He had left our blessings for us to decide, we would have been hired servants forever, and not sons.
So could anything still go wrong before the day we take possession?
God settled our destiny beforehand. He did not settle it to fit our need, or even our thoughts and wishes, but according to His own purpose, and He carries out all things as He pleases. So we may be sure that no possible slip can come between us and the inheritance He has destined for us.
Three words stand side by side in this verse. One writer sets out what each one means.
Purpose is the goal God has before Him. Divine Persons took counsel as to how that goal would be secured, and the ways of God are bringing it all into effect. When the ways of God reach their end, His counsel will have been fully carried out. What He purposed will be secured, and this is what will go into the eternal state… Notice how all three are in verse 11 of our chapter: purpose, working and counsel.
"Works all things" reaches past the church into world events — even the ones that look like chaos.
How very encouraging it is for the Christian to know that nothing happens in this world except what serves the will of God. God is not acting openly today in the events of the world, as He certainly will in a coming day. But His counsel has ordered that everything must work towards one great end: the fulfilling of His eternal purpose. What God does not rule, He overrules, even as He makes the wrath of man praise Him.
- Purpose — God fixed the goal Himself. He never asked us, and He acted out of His own wisdom and love.
- Counsel — divine Persons planned how that purpose would be secured. Verse 11 holds all three: purpose, counsel and working.
- Working — He works all things toward that end; what He does not rule, He overrules.
- Inheritance — what it comes to for us: not a portion of our own, but Christ's inheritance, shared with joint-heirs.
- Security — it all begins and ends in Him, so no slip can come between us and the inheritance.
that we should be to [the] praise of his glory who have pre-trusted in the Christ
Paul ends a long sentence about God's purpose by naming its result. A people who hoped in Christ ahead of time now exist for the praise of God's glory. Two questions follow. Who trusted "first"? And what does it mean to be praise, and not only to give it?
after
The ESV reads "the first to hope"; the writers quoted here render the same phrase "first trusted." Either way the word points to timing — trusting Christ before the world sees Him.
The apostle is speaking here first of Jewish Christians. They have believed in Christ before He is revealed. That is what "we who have first trusted in Christ" means. If I may use a new word, they "have pre-trusted in Christ" — they trusted in Him before He appears. The remnant of the Jews in the last days will believe (like Thomas) when they see Him. Blessed is the one who has believed without seeing.
Thomas believed only after he saw. Faith that has never seen Christ stands higher.
Verse 13 switches pronouns, and many writers treat that switch as the key to who "we" are.
As we pass from verse 12 to verse 13 we notice a change in the pronouns, from "we" to "you." When the Apostle wrote "we … who first trusted in Christ," his mind was on the saints gathered out of Israel, himself included. The "you" meant the saints gathered out from the Gentiles. The Jewish believers were something like the firstfruits of their nation. Later, a redeemed and restored Israel will be for the LORD's praise on earth. But those who trusted in Christ beforehand, in this gospel age, will have part in the heavenly calling. They will be to His praise in the heavenly places.
Commentators differ here. Others say the praise clause covers all believers alike, Jew and Gentile together.
The people in this verse are described as having first trusted, or hoped, in Christ. It is hard to accept that the Apostle uses this expression only to mark off himself and his fellow Israelites in the faith from the Gentiles who were grafted in later. The general statement, "That we should be to the praise of His glory," refers to the saints with no reference to Jew or Gentile. The chapter has kept these same people before us from the start as the chosen objects of blessing.
On the first reading, Israel's coming blessing and the portion of believers now are not the same. Both are glorious. They differ.
The nation of Israel will not be among those who hoped in Christ beforehand, "to the praise of His glory." They will be the subjects of His glory. "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you." His glory will take in their salvation. But some out of that unbelieving nation received Christ before they saw Him. They will therefore appear with Him in glory, and that will be to "the praise of His glory." Blessed are those who receive Christ when they see Him. More blessed still are those who have not seen and yet have believed.
The verse gives the reason God works out His plan at all. It ends in Him, not in us.
Nothing glorifies God except the carrying out of His will. And, as we have already seen, He Himself is the pledge that it will be carried out. Sovereign grace has lifted the Church to her place, and that will be to the praise of His glory and nothing else.
The phrase is not an isolated one. It belongs to a whole vocabulary this letter piles up.
In unfolding grace and glory in this Epistle to the Ephesians, we may observe that there is a peculiar accumulation of language, as I may express it, as though the Writer (the Spirit) were conscious of what a theme of unusual weight and dignity He was treating. We read of "the glory of grace," of "the riches of grace," of "the exceeding riches of grace," of "the praise of His glory," and of "the praise of the glory of His grace." This is the style in which the magnificent secrets of this Epistle are brought out to view. The casket is according to the treasure.
The praise is not only spoken. Believers will show it when they appear with Christ in the day of His reign.
The Jewish nation lost their earthly inheritance by rejecting Christ and following their own will. The remnant of the Jews who believed in Christ gained a more glorious inheritance in the world to come. It came to them by the purpose of Him who works all things after the counsel of His own will. Joined with Christ in His reign, believers will display His glory. In that day He will be "glorified" and "admired" in all that believe (2 Thess. 1:10). … These believers from among the Jews had "pre-trusted" in Christ. They had trusted in Christ in the day of His rejection; the restored nation will trust Him in the day of His glory.
- Before — "pre-trusted" means hoping in Christ before He appears. That is faith running ahead of sight.
- Who — most take "we" as believers out of Israel, the firstfruits of a nation that will trust Him only when it sees Him. Some take it of all the chosen, Jew and Gentile alike.
- What — Israel will be the subjects of His glory. Those who believed without seeing will appear with Him, and so be the praise of it.
- Why — nothing glorifies God except the carrying out of His own will, and He Himself guarantees it.
- When — in the day of Christ's reign believers will display that glory, and He will be glorified in all who believe.
in whom *ye* also [have trusted], having heard the word of the truth, the glad tidings of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, ye have been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,
Paul has just spoken of "we who were the first to hope in Christ." Now he turns to "you also," and traces a plain sequence: a message heard, a message believed, then a seal. What is that message? What does the seal mean? And how soon does it come?
The change of pronoun marks a change of people.
As we move from verse 12 to verse 13 we notice a change in the pronouns, from "we" to "you." In writing, "we who were the first to hope in Christ," Paul had in mind believers gathered out of Israel, including himself. The "you" meant believers gathered from the Gentiles.
Those outside Israel came in by a direct route:
The Jews, or those who had been under Jewish teaching, had been for a while in an infant state, an Old Testament condition. But the Gentiles by faith passed straight into the full Christian blessing.
The verse sets out three steps.
The Ephesian believers were sealed with the Holy Spirit after they believed (see Eph. 1:13). This verse gives us clearly the order that is always followed. First, they "heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation"; second, they believed it; third, they were sealed with the Spirit.
How long after believing does the Spirit come?
The writer well remembers an answer to this question: "After is not a question of time, but of order." Receive the gospel of your salvation, and you receive the Spirit. The second follows from the first. After the blow, the sword cut. How long after? It is simply cause and effect. The moment a man or woman receives the gospel of their salvation, God gives the seal of the Holy Spirit, claiming the believer for Himself for ever.
The word "salvation" here is not one blessing among several. It gathers up the whole.
We now come to a word of very large meaning. It is so large that it can cover other gospel words such as justification, redemption, reconciliation… So in Ephesians 1:13, that one word sums up the whole deliverance that has reached us, in all its parts.
A seal did two jobs in the ancient world, and both are meant here.
The Holy Spirit given to dwell in believers is Himself the seal. By Him God marks them out, takes possession of them as His own, and declares them to be His property… But the figure is that of a seal. A seal did not only show ownership by the mark stamped on it. It was also put on for protection. So believers are said to be sealed until the day of redemption. The seal keeps them safe until the Lord returns to receive them to Himself.
How far does that claim reach?
God claims the whole believer — body, soul and spirit. Even the body that dies He will claim and change at the coming of the Lord Jesus.
The title points back to a promise the Father made.
He is called "the Spirit of promise," probably because He is "the promise of the Father, which," says Christ, "you have heard of me." He is also the pledge of the coming inheritance — not a part of it, which would take from His glory.
Commentators differ on what a person must grasp before God gives the seal. Some hold that being born of God and being sealed are two different works. The second, they say, waits on faith in the work Christ has finished:
He is sealed with the Holy Spirit as a believer not only in Christ, but in the gospel of our salvation — the work that Christ has done… This explains why there were people born of the Holy Spirit who were never sealed. The Old Testament believers, for instance, all looked for Christ. All were born of God, but not one was sealed with the Holy Spirit.
Others say the seal rests on trust in Christ Himself, and nothing more:
Notice the importance of the words "in Him," found twice in this verse. Their trust was not simply in the gospel, but in the person of Christ, of whom the gospel speaks… It is not a matter of having entered more into the truth of the work of Christ in redemption, but simply of believing in Him personally. The simplest believer therefore shares in the sealing of the Spirit.
- Heard — it starts outside you, with "the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation," a message that reaches you before you believe it.
- Believed — faith is the hinge; "after" marks order, not delay, like the cut that follows the blow.
- Sealed — the Spirit Himself is the seal, God's stamp of ownership on body, soul and spirit.
- Secured — a seal also protects, so the sealing runs on "until the day of redemption."
- Promised — He is called the Spirit of promise because He is what the Father pledged. He is also the pledge of the inheritance still to come.
who is [the] earnest of our inheritance to the redemption of the acquired possession to [the] praise of his glory.
Ephesians 1 ends its long list of blessings with something still owed. The believer holds the Spirit now as God's down payment; the inheritance itself comes later, and all of it ends in God's glory.
The word translated "guarantee" (older versions read "earnest") comes from ordinary business. It is money laid down that commits the buyer to the rest.
'Earnest' is an old word for deposit, down payment, or guarantee. When a buyer of a house pays the deposit you know he intends to pay the balance. In this sense, the Holy Spirit is called 'the earnest of our inheritance' (Eph. 1:14; 2 Cor. 5:5): God has already given us His Spirit, so He will also give us the future inheritance — to share in Christ's universal dominion (Eph. 1:10, 22, 23). This is why it continues to say: 'to the redemption of the acquired possession' (v. 14). It is a future redemption. The inheritance is already ours, but it still needs to be 'redeemed'. It is like a cheque you already hold: the bank only pays it when you hand it in.
The Spirit does not hand over a pledge and step back.
Scripture does not say that the Holy Spirit gives the earnest of our inheritance. It says that He is Himself the earnest of our inheritance. He is the guarantee that when the appointed time comes we will have the inheritance with Christ.
A deposit means you hold only a part now. That fits the inheritance. It does not fit God's love.
The Holy Spirit is given to us as an earnest of the inheritance, but He is never said to be the earnest of God's love. The earnest of His love would imply that I only get a little of His love now, and am to have a great deal more when in heaven. The love of God fully rests on the believer already. "The love with which You loved Me" — is this an "earnest"? Is it not the fullness of His love?
One question decides how you read the verse: are we the heirs, or are we the inheritance?
No, we are the heirs, heirs of God, co-heirs with Christ; and there is no possibility of confusing the heirs and the inheritance... The earnest is not for the inheritance, but for the heirs, as anyone can see. We have received nothing of the inheritance yet. Christ has not received it. He has purchased it with His blood, but power has yet to redeem that purchased possession... What must be the glory of the inheritance of which the Holy Spirit is the earnest!
Redemption here is still ahead of us, though the price has already been paid. One word covers two different acts.
In Ephesians 1:14 however the point is different. What He has purchased by His death He will in the end redeem by His power from every force set against Him. This is the difference between redemption by blood and redemption by power.
The purchased possession reaches further than our own bodies.
"The redemption of the purchased possession" looks forward. It points to the time when Christ will take possession of everything He bought. Then creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay. The first stage is the changing of our bodies into His image at His coming.
What we are waiting for is bigger than our own glory.
This is what we wait for. We wait not only for the coming of Christ, the resurrection of our bodies, and our being glorified together with Him. We wait also for the time when, as joint-heirs with Him, we will enter with Him on all that scene of dominion, blessedness, and glory which He won through His death... No wonder we are told that this final result is to the praise of God's glory! Our present acceptance in the Beloved is to the praise of the glory of His grace. Our share with Christ in His inheritance will be to the praise of His glory.
- Deposit — The Spirit is God's down payment. He has paid the deposit, so He will pay the balance.
- Person — The Spirit does not just bring the guarantee. He is the guarantee.
- Heirs — The pledge sits with the heirs, not with the estate. No one holds the inheritance yet, not even Christ.
- Power — Blood bought the possession. Power will redeem it: our bodies first, then creation.
- Praise — The whole chain, from deposit to dominion, lands not on our gain but on the praise of His glory.
Wherefore *I* also, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which [is] in you, and the love which [ye have] towards all the saints,
Paul has just traced every spiritual blessing God gives in Christ. Now he turns to what he has heard about his readers. Two things reached him: their faith and their love. Both keep him thanking God, and both lead into the prayer that follows.
Paul first sets out the blessings, then turns to two marks in the readers themselves:
All the blessings are revealed (vv. 3–14). The apostle is saying, "All this future is before you. I want you now to know the basis on which it all hangs." He then takes them up (v. 15) on their faith in the Lord Jesus, and love to all the saints. Where you see the heart truly trusting in God through Christ, and caring for His saints, you can accept that person as one of God's people.
Faith fixes the heart on Christ, and love for His people follows as the proof:
The prayer opens by setting before us the spiritual condition of the Ephesian saints. That condition encouraged the Apostle to give thanks, and to pray without ceasing, for them. It is a wonderful thing that they were marked by "faith in the Lord Jesus, and love to all the saints." Christ being the object of their faith, the saints became the object of their love. There can be no greater proof of living faith in Christ than practical love to the saints. Faith puts the soul in touch with Christ, and, being in touch with Him, the heart goes out to all whom He loves. The nearer we get to Christ, the more our affections go out to those that are His.
There is a further reason for naming faith first. Love can become something we take credit for:
Our love would bring in the thought of something on man's part that would give importance to us. So, although he is about to speak of love to the saints, he introduces the matter by "faith." Faith throws us not so much on our love to Him as on His love to us.
The word "all" leaves nobody out. It becomes a measure of how near we are to Christ:
Here "love to all the saints" becomes a true test of our nearness to Christ by faith. To love only those who suit us — whose character and ways please us — would not match the description given here of the Ephesians. We could not love all Christians alike; that would be impossible. But we are to love all as the children of God, and for what we see of Christ in them. We must look at them from His point of view, not our own.
Given the height of the truth in this letter, we might expect Paul to praise their grasp of it. He does not:
It is worth noting that the Apostle gives thanks for the fruit of the work of God in the saints — their "faith" and "love." He does not thank God here for the knowledge of the truth they may have gained, or for their hard work in searching the word. He thanks God for the results of the truth seen in their lives. Writing to the Ephesian believers, he does not thank God that they entered into the highest truths connected with the counsels of God. He thanks God for how far the truth had affected them.
Verse 15 is the doorway into the prayer of verses 16–23. What Paul heard is what draws that prayer out of him:
The apostle came to know these Ephesians by their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and their love to all the saints. "Oh," says Paul, "they are Christ's; that is enough for me." So he never stops giving thanks. He keeps praying that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, might give them the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. Notice: he does not pray for them to have the spirit of wisdom and revelation until he knows of their "faith and love."
News of them reached Paul from far away, and it moved him to pray:
It would seem from verse 15 that fresh news of Ephesus had stimulated Paul's prayers for them. He had been with them on a former occasion for three years. Are we concerned about assemblies at a distance from us?
- Faith — trust rests on the Lord Jesus, and Paul names it first so the weight falls on His love to us rather than ours to Him.
- Love — the fruit that proves the faith is alive. The nearer the heart is to Christ, the wider its love for those who are His.
- All — love that picks only agreeable company fails the test; the measure is love to God's people as God's people.
- Fruit — Paul gives thanks not for how much truth they had grasped, but for how far the truth had shaped their lives.
- Prayer — hearing of that faith and love, Paul never stops thanking God, and then he prays for them.
do not cease giving thanks for you, making mention [of you] at my prayers,
Paul has just unfolded God's purpose in Christ. Verse 16 shows what that truth did to him: it turned him to unbroken thanks, and to prayer that named people one by one.
Word had reached Paul about the Ephesians: they trusted Christ and loved God's people. One writer shows how that shaped what Paul looked for in others, and warns of the two ditches on either side:
Hearing of their faith and love, the Apostle cannot help giving thanks and praying without ceasing for these saints. If we only dwell on each other's defects and failures, we shall be overwhelmed and always complaining about the saints. If we look for, and dwell on, what the grace of God has done in the saints, we shall have cause for thanksgiving. At the same time, we shall not be indifferent to what may need correction. The Apostle never overlooked what was of Christ in the saints, though he was never indifferent to what was of the flesh.
Notice what Paul thanks God for, and what he passes over.
It is worth noting that the Apostle gives thanks for the fruit of the work of God in the saints — their "faith" and "love." Here he does not thank God for the knowledge of the truth they may have gained, or for their hard study of the word. He thanks God for the results of the truth seen in their lives. Writing to the Ephesians, he does not thank God that they had entered into the highest truths of God's purpose. He thanks God for how far the truth had shaped them, seen in their "faith in the Lord Jesus" and "love toward all the saints" (Eph. 1:15-16; also Col. 1:3-4).
The order matters. Paul first hears what they are; only then does he ask God for more.
These Ephesians became known to the apostle by their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and their love to all the saints. "Oh," says Paul, "they are Christ's; that is enough for me." So he never stops giving thanks. He prays that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, might give them the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. He does not pray, you notice, that they might have the spirit of wisdom and revelation, until he knows of their "faith and love."
Paul's praying was not vague. One writer presses that home with a question about our prayer meetings:
However clearly we set the truth before the saints, only the Holy Spirit can make it good in their hearts, and the apostle knew that well... We can be sure he did not pray for the saints in a general way only; he understood the truth too well for that... One wonders why our prayer meetings are not more specific and less general. We do pray for all saints, we pray for the gospel, for the ministry of the truth. Why not name those who may be ministering?
The prayer is not an add-on to the teaching of chapter 1; it grows straight out of it.
As he unfolds the wonderful truths of this letter, the Apostle is led into prayer. Those prayers matter very much for our souls. I am sure many of us have felt a thought often put to us: these great truths can only be learned on our knees. This is what seemed to impress the Apostle. The Spirit of God led him to pray that the truths he was inspired to pass on would take deep hold of the hearts and consciences of the saints.
Paul wrote this as a prisoner. So the verse speaks to anyone whose usefulness looks finished:
Aged believers, disabled believers, imprisoned believers, take courage! Although you can no longer run the Lord's errands, you can still serve the people of God at the throne of grace. Paul in his Roman prison did not cease to give thanks for his Ephesian brothers and sisters, remembering them in his prayers (Eph. 1:16). He remembered the Philippians too, and in every prayer for them he prayed with joy (Phil. 1:4).
- Report. Word of their faith in Christ and love for all believers reached Paul. Look for what grace has done, not for failures, and thanks takes the place of complaining.
- Thanks. He gives thanks for fruit in their lives, not for doctrine they had mastered or study they had done.
- Order. He waits until he knows of their faith and love. Only then does he ask for the spirit of wisdom and revelation for them.
- Names. Paul's praying was particular, not general — so name people instead of praying only in broad terms.
- Reach. A prisoner who could no longer travel still served God's people at the throne of grace. Teaching alone cannot fix truth in hearts, so Paul prays it in.
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, would give you [the] spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of him,
Paul has just listed what God has done for believers. Now he turns to prayer, and asks for something surprising: a spirit of wisdom and revelation for people who already have the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians contains two prayers, and each one addresses God differently. One writer traces both back to a single sentence spoken by the risen Christ:
These words of the Lord will also be remembered: "I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God." The two prayers of the apostle in the letter to the Ephesians (the one in chapter 1 and the one in chapter 3) will be seen to rest on these two titles. The prayer of chapter 1 is founded on the second title, that of "God of our Lord Jesus Christ" (v. 17); and the prayer of chapter 3 on the first, that of "Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" (v. 14). The first title is used in relation to glory, the second to communion in love.
Another writer draws the same line in terms of what each prayer asks for:
God is light and God is love. The first prayer is a prayer for light, that His redeemed people may know, may be enlightened; therefore it is addressed to the God of our Lord Jesus Christ. The second prayer in the third chapter is for love, and therefore addressed to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Calling God the God of Jesus Christ can sound like a demotion. It is not:
Here we get Christ presented in a double character — as Son of the Father and as Man — and that lies at the root of our whole condition too. He is the God of our Lord Jesus Christ as Man, and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ as Son.
The title says where glory comes from, and what the coming glory will be like:
In this prayer God is also addressed as "the Father of glory". The scene of glory we are going to takes its character from the Father, the One it springs from. His love and holiness will fill that world of glory in which God will be perfectly displayed. While the Father is the spring and source of glory, the Lord Jesus, as Man, is the centre and object of glory.
Set beside the glory the world offers, the contrast is sharp:
The world's glory is stained by its god — Satan. Every true and pure ray of glory comes from Him who is the Father of glory — the Source of all that is pure and lasting.
The phrase works the way other "spirit of" phrases do:
God's giving His saints the spirit of wisdom and revelation does not mean the gift of the Spirit of God Himself. Verse 13 has already declared them sealed with the Holy Spirit. But just as "the spirit of meekness" (Gal. 6:1) refers to an attitude marked by meekness, so this is an attitude marked by both wisdom and revelation. Wisdom is what rightly applies whatever knowledge we may have learned. But the spirit of revelation is that attitude of soul that is ready to receive directly from the Lord whatever thoughts He may reveal to us.
Teaching alone, then, does not carry a truth into the soul:
It was not enough for the Apostle to unfold the truth to the saints. To understand what he made known, they had to be in the spiritual state to enter into it. To receive the things of divine wisdom, we must have the spirit of wisdom. To receive the things God reveals, we must have the spirit of revelation. It is God who gives this spiritual state, to those who want it and who are in communion with Him about what He has revealed.
The word Paul uses for knowledge here is stronger than the ordinary one:
There might be a little difficulty if it were simply "the knowledge of him." The proper meaning of the word is "the full knowledge of him." They already knew Him, but Paul prayed that they might know Him more. He wanted them to be fathers in Christ, and what makes a father is a deep and growing knowledge of Christ Himself. The Spirit of God alone could give them this entrance into it.
The knowing Paul asks for is not just mental:
The believer and the church have a wonderful position before God and the Father. We must understand the mind of God about that position before we can appreciate a walk that matches it here below. What Paul seeks for the saints is heart knowledge — not just the eyes of the understanding, but "the eyes of your HEART being enlightened, that you may know."
Since God gives this knowledge, we should ask Him for it:
Every word and phrase of the opening section underlines this: although this knowledge can be learned, we depend on God to teach it by His Spirit. God has given His Spirit, but this prayer asks for the wisdom, revelation, and knowledge, which are some of His mighty works. We ought never to be afraid to pray for knowledge, the right kind of knowledge, coming to us from the right source.
- The Address — Paul prays here to the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the title that fits Christ as Man. In chapter 3 he prays to the Father, the title that fits Him as Son.
- The Source — "Father of glory" means every ray of real glory begins in Him. The glory we are going to will take its character from Him.
- The Gift — Not the Holy Spirit Himself, given already in verse 13. This is a state of soul: wisdom to apply what we learn, and readiness to receive what God reveals.
- The Depth — The word means "full knowledge". These believers knew Him already, and Paul asks that they know Him more.
- The Result — The eyes of the heart open, so we know our position before God and can walk in a way that matches it.
being enlightened in the eyes of your heart, so that ye should know what is the hope of his calling, [and] what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
Paul has just listed one blessing after another, and now he stops teaching and starts to pray. He does not ask for more blessing but for sight — that God would open the eyes of the heart to what He has already given.
The prayer assumes the blessing is already given. What is missing is our perception of it.
At verse 15 the apostle stops being a teacher and becomes someone praying for others. You will find that he never pulls down in prayer what he had built up as a teacher. You will sometimes hear people asking God to love them. I could never make such a prayer... To ask God to love me, to make me a co-heir with Christ, to appoint me to heavenly places in Him! I will make a prayer much more humbling than that. I am so blessed in my calling, so poor in my enjoyment! If God has lit a candle, I will not ask Him to light it, but to take the film from my eyes, that I may see what He has done.
Paul says the eyes of the heart, not the eyes of the mind. That difference decides how this knowledge comes.
The knowledge of Christ that the apostle prays for is not just intellectual knowledge. It is a heart acquaintance with a Person. That is why he says (as the text should read), "being enlightened in the eyes of your heart." Again and again we see in Scripture, and learn by experience, that God teaches through the affections.
This does not shut the brain out. It says where such knowing takes root.
There is no point in making anatomical distinctions between head and heart... All knowledge must in fact involve the brain — head knowledge, as people say. So what does "the eyes of your heart" mean? The verse has just insisted that this knowledge comes from God by the revelation of His Spirit. It can only mean that this knowledge is also tied in a special way to the affections.
The earlier verses of the chapter already spell out the calling. Paul asks for the hope of it — what it will look like when it is all out in the open.
What then is the hope He has called us to? In Ephesians it is not the Lord's coming, and this is because of the height of the position we are set in, seated in the heavenly places in Christ. His coming would, as it were, disturb the seated ones. The hope of it is the full realisation, in the eternal glory, of all that God has called us into in Christ. It is the fruit of what He planned from a past eternity. If only we were more struck by how completely heavenly and eternal such a calling is! God planned it for us in Christ before the world was founded. We have it in Him in the heavenly places. And we will know it in full when we are made completely like Him in the glory of God for ever. No link with time or the course of this world: the Christian belongs to eternity.
Commentators differ here. Others read the hope more directly: "This hope involves the coming of the Lord Jesus to transfer all believers into His heavenly glory" (Leslie M. Grant).
The second thing Paul asks for moves from hope to inheritance. He keeps the two apart.
With remarkable clearness the apostle distinguishes the hope from the inheritance of glory... The earlier verses of the chapter detail the calling of God. The central verses develop the riches of the glory of God's inheritance. He does not take that inheritance directly and personally, so to speak — not in Christ alone. He takes it in the saints too. The saints are not the inheritance. They are the heirs — heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ.
The little word "in" carries the weight. It also settles when our own portion arrives.
Just as a king might occupy conquered territory by putting his troops and officials in possession, so it will be then. We shall get our inheritance when Christ gets His. This is what the apostle means when he prays that we may know "what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints." It is not that the saints are His inheritance, but that He takes up His inheritance in His saints, by putting His saints in possession.
This sight is not a bonus for advanced Christians. It is where practical Christian living starts.
We must first grasp the mind of God about the wonderful position the believer and the church have before God and the Father. Only then can we intelligently value a walk that matches it here on earth.
- Ask for sight — Paul does not pray for new blessings. He asks God to take the film off our eyes, so we can see what He has already done.
- Heart, not head — the text says "eyes of your heart"; God teaches through the affections, so study alone will never give it.
- Hope — the first thing to see: the full display in eternal glory of everything God's calling has put us into in Christ.
- Inheritance — the second: Christ takes up His inheritance in His saints. We get our portion when He gets His.
- Then walk — sight of the position comes first; a life that matches it can only follow.